State Rep. Linsky crafting bill to address 3D-printed firearms

By Michael P. NortonState House News Service

Tuesday

Jul 31, 2018 at 4:49 PMAug 1, 2018 at 5:12 PM

BOSTON - Saying Congress "doesn't act in this area," a state representative from Natick is drafting legislation on Beacon Hill to address 3D-printed firearms, which Attorney General Maura Healey described Monday as "an imminent threat to public safety."

"We're drafting a bill right now," Rep. David Linsky told the News Service. "We're reviewing the existing laws in Massachusetts and we expect we'll get something ready for filing in a few days."

Healey on Monday joined a multi-state lawsuit that her office says is designed to block a settlement and federal rule changes enabling the company Defense Distributed to post files online allowing individuals to make guns using 3D printers.

In a letter, Healey and her counterparts from 20 other states also called on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to withdraw from the settlement.

"The federal government is trying to allow access to online plans that will allow anyone to anonymously build their own downloadable, untraceable and undetectable gun," Healey said in a statement. "This is an imminent threat to public safety and violates the law. We have a responsibility to ensure that these files are not made easily available to the public."

President Donald Trump tweeted about the topic Tuesday morning. "I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn’t seem to make much sense!"

Linsky said he supports the lawsuit, in which the attorneys general are seeking a nationwide injunction requiring the federal government to refrain from making rule changes that allow 3D-printed weapons to be available online. The complaint against the U.S. Department of State was filed in Washington.

"We've got a huge problem here," said Linsky, whose Fifth Middlesex District includes Natick, Sherborn and Precincts 2 and 3 in Millis. "People have already begun downloading the plans for firearms to be made through a 3D printer. We already know what's going on. And the upcoming release in the federal settlement will only exacerbate this problem."

Linsky outlined three elements of his bill. He said it would likely require a person to have a state license in addition to a federal license to manufacture firearms, ensure that state firearm laws cover 3D weapons, and make sure a serial number system is in place for all firearms "whether they're manufactured in a factory and made out metal, or whether they're manufactured out of plastic and made in a 3D printer in your own home."

"We need to make sure there is a way to trace every firearm no matter how or why or where it's manufactured," Linsky said.

Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts director Jim Wallace described the uproar over 3D-printed weapons as "a little bit tilting at a windmill."

"I don't see it as a big public safety problem because unfortunately, I don't see a problem for criminals getting real guns," Wallace said. "We haven't been able to cut that pipeline off yet. I'm not sure a criminal is going to bother getting the technology - the printer, the materials, the plans - just to make a gun that's probably going to blow up in their hands the first time they use it."

Linsky said he knows "anecdotally" that people in the United States have successfully made firearms with 3D printers.

"Matter of fact, on TV this morning, you may have seen clips of people with 3D printer-manufactured guns made out of plastic," he said. "It can be done. That practice is only going to get more widespread so we need to step in here. We can't be behind the technological curve on this, because these guns that are manufactured are just as deadly as any other guns. They can still kill someone, so they need to be regulated in the same way that we regulate guns that are made in Smith & Wesson, or Ruger, or Glock, or any other major manufacturer."

According to Healey's office, Defense Distributed in 2013 was instructed by the State Department to remove downloadable files for building firearms from its website. The online company in 2015 sued the State Department to allow the information to be available online, according to Healey's office, and the State Department "recently agreed to amend federal rules regulating the export of weapons on the United States Munitions List."

"The proposed rules would allow information about certain military weapons such as semi-automatic firearms, previously considered critical to national security and public safety, to be uploaded to the Internet," Healey's office said on Monday.

People can already make their own "real guns" if they have the parts, Wallace said.

"It's perfectly legal to do both under federal and state law," said Wallace. "If they're worried about technology getting into the hands of the wrong people, we already have guns getting into the hands of the wrong people and it's one of the things that we're very angry about already. Listen, if these people want to use their authority and their political soapbox, how about using it to force the judges to put some of these guys in prison that are getting out on ridiculous low bail for committing nasty crimes with real guns."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.